Redact a PDF, Free — Real Redaction, Right in Your Browser
Drag over any part of the page to black it out — an SSN, an account number, anything else that shouldn't be recoverable. This is genuine redaction: the content is actually removed from the file, not just painted over. Nothing you upload here is ever sent to a server.
Select a PDF to Redact →How it works
Select your PDF
Select Blackout
Drag over the area
Download
Why doing this locally matters
This editor
- Your file never leaves your device
- No account or email required
- No file size cap
- Nothing stored on any server, ever
Typical "upload to redact" tools
- Your document — sensitive info included — sits on their server
- Usually requires an account
- Often capped on the free tier
- Retention/deletion is on their terms, not yours
Frequently asked questions
Does this permanently remove the hidden text, or just cover it visually?
It permanently removes it. Any page with a blackout is flattened into a plain image when you download — the original text and graphics on that page are never written into the output file at all, so there's nothing for a copy-paste or text-extraction tool to recover, not even outside the blacked-out area. The one honest tradeoff: that whole page loses its own searchable/selectable text as a result, not just the covered part — every other page in the document is completely unaffected.
Can I move or resize a blackout box after placing it?
Yes — select it to drag it to a new spot or resize it, or delete it entirely.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere to black it out?
No. Everything happens in your browser using JavaScript. The file never leaves your device.
Is there a file size or page limit?
No. Since nothing is uploaded to a server, there's no server-side limit — the only ceiling is what your own device's memory can handle.